TrINC Money : MPESA-PayPal Service [Updated]

I was a bit hesitant to write about this new service after the rise and fall of PayMPESA, but here goes:

Trinc Money seems to be a new service that allows you to transfer money to and from PayPal via MPESA. yes, this means that it lets you both withdraw and deposit money into PayPal using MPESA. Sounds good, eh?

Costs
Apart from the usual PayPal and MPESA fees, Trinc Money charges what seems to be a used to charge a standard flat Kshs 1000 transaction fee. Depending on how much you send, this can work out to be extremely cheap. But is it sustainable?

They have since updated their fees to 6.9% + KES.250

Sustainability
I worry about this service. Does it have the required blessing from PayPal? As far as I know, PayPal does not allow this kind of money transfer service. If your remember correctly, other services got around this issue by packaging themselves as selling “vouchers” which could be redeemed for money. This seems not to be the case with Trinc Money.

Additionally, PayPal is rumored to be very very close to launching fully in Kenya. Would this not outright kill TrincMoney?

I have reached out to Trinc Money for comment on both of the above.

I am sorry if I feel overly critical of TrINC Money, I am just being prudent. I am aware that PayPal frowns upon this kind of “money transfer” business working through PayPal and I would not want the readers of Like Chapaa to suffer any loss as a result of reading this article.

So, dear readers, what do you think of this? Has anyone tried to use Trinc Money?

Response from TrINC Money:

Trincmoney is neither a money transfer service nor a currency exchange service. What we do provide is a platform for registered PayPal users to send electronic PayPal value to the Trincmoney PayPal account. These funds are not withdrawn and are valid PayPal transactions initiated by registered PayPal users.

Upon a customer’s request, our service sends our customers electronic monetary value depicted in ones M-PESA Account representing an equal amount of Cash held by the MPESA Holding Company Limited and which may be redeemed through an M-PESA Agent for an equal amount of legal tender in the Republic of Kenya, to their MPESA registered mobile numbers. Note that MPESA electronic value is NOT legal tender.

With regard to money laundering, Trincmoney carries out the required due diligence on customers who send us money and who receive money from us.

If PayPal were to open up shop on Kenya it would be a blessing to a lot of people who use the Internet to send and receive money. Trincmoney will survive simply because a PayPal withdrawal takes 4 working days to effect while our service is effected within the hour. Also chances are that the charges will be higher.

I hope I have answered your queries. I have also read your blog on our service. Please note that we changed our rates and are now charging 6.9% + KES.250. Check out our Facebook Page and Twitter handle and sample some of our customer reviews.

Not pessimistic, but as long you have to send money to a third party (money@trinc.co.ke) this will not work in the long time. As soon as PayPal notices the increased number of transactions through money@trinc.co.ke, there will be a red flag. Not a bad idea, just that PayPal’s terms and conditions are meant to protect users against fraud. Let’s compare notes 2 months from now.

I will hold my horses, the update still has many inconsistencies;”Trincmoney is neither a money transfer service nor a currency exchange service” but for practical purposes money is transfered and currencies are exchanged as well albeit in a virtual environment. . This thing has no blessings from PayPal (which for me is the biggest deal), and for all i know PayPal could even flag and limit my account for transacting via Trinc Money. This kind of arrangement has been tried before and has failed. I have also checked out the FB page and there are inadequate responses to issues raised there. This is not the era of banking on “Customer Reviews” alone, just address the pertient issues raised. Anybody who would want to withdraw from PayPal is not your average Karanja, these are guys in the know, hence any service that claims to do that should pass the test of credibility, security and conform to legal requirements as far as money is concerned. There are still many grey areas: is there a privacy policy? How do you handle my personal info (Name, Mobile No. Email-address), KYC?, fraud detection?. As for me and my house i will keep away, sorry.

@Jaffar, I totally agree with you. There are many service providers who started like Trinc but never lasted. If paypal strikes on them unfortunately they will go down with a few of their clients through account limitation for 180 days. If you are prepared to take the risk, go a head but I would advice users to be cautious. Simplicity is good but sometimes can be a drawback. How do you track your transactions? What if someone hijacked your paypal transaction number? I had rather pay 16% to epay who seem to lay emphasis on KYC and have implemented some fraud detection mechanism and am sure my paypal account is safe from limitations. Baba watoto is also safe though they accept ‘purchases’ from diaspora.

My notes on Trinc’s reply
1. I highly doubt that paypal will charge higher than Trinc when/if they (paypal) launch in kenya as Trinc’s opinion states.
2. How could they miss updating their charges on their website.
3. I get easily confused if too much English explains a not-too-complicated process.
4. Customer reviews? How convenient a credibility metric that can be.

Okay someone explain to me what is the difference between TrINC and e-pay kenya because they seem to be doing the same thing. To my understanding whoever I use as long as I am in kenya I am using a third party.

@Crystal, whereas Trinc is a third party, epay is a fourth party, this explains why they are more expensive but they safe as they do not deal with paypal directly. Furthermore, they have a KYC policy and fraud detection mechanisms.

My biggest question is: Is TriINC legit? meaning i will not be conned of my hard earned cash. Someone please confirm this fact, that one will receive M-pesa after sending PayPal. Is so, this service is far much better than E-pay which levies around 20% to receive money. Presently, E-pay is the only credible business so far in this paypal-mpesa biz. TrINC maybe a good alternative 4 m if it is legit.

Will I will only go by my experience I had with TrINC today morning. I first tested it out with $100 . As per their charges, it was Kshs 233 which was PayPal deduction and Kshs 845 which was Trincmoney charges. I sent them the cash at 7:35am and got a call from TrINC 5 minutes later verifying that I had sent the cash from my PayPal. At 7:54am got Mpesa. That was my first experience with TrINC.

Has anyone heard of Safarinet Services? I have been using them for the last four or so months to access my Paypal cash. They have yet to fail me. Charges vary. Between $5-$15 as far as my transactions go.

Trinc seems to be having a problem. Their Paypal to Mpesa service has been down for a while and they claim it is due to ‘delay’ in Mpesa which I highly doubt coz Mpesa has been working fine since yesterday. They have also mentioned that they are ‘working very hard’ to restore the service. I wonder what influence they have on Mpesa!! I am also wondering why they have not given a similar message for the Mpesa to Paypal service if Mpesa services are slow in their world. I think it is only fair to suspend both services. Trinc, come clean, is there something you are hiding from us?

I have just seen that message on Facebook about the delays plus someone just tried to use it and their PayPal flagged that person’s account. So tread carefully…………..In other news e-pay has reduced its transaction fee. Yipee!

Seems like the bubble is beginning to burst. This is exactly what i was trying to put across in my earlier comment. Be ready to have your PayPal account limited. I hope they make a good amount of $$ before the fall.

…..and Trinc money Paypal to mpesa service is not available again with the same excuse of Mpesa delays but we all know Mpesa is working. Would be nice to tell users the truth guys, or be more creative by giving a more convincing reason! We wish you well but then you need to be forthright. I do not want to have my paypal account suspended or limited!

Sorry but didn’t know where to post this but I hope to get a response.

I realise that some people are able to access your internet time when you use a modem when you are using a data bundle such as from Safaricom or Airtel, etc. When you logon, the crooks are able to access free airtime as long as you are connected. This is especially a problem if you are staying in close proximity such as in flats, or in a crowded place. How can one avoid this? How can you report this to have the crooks apprehended?

For some KPLC pre- paid meters is the same thing is happening. It is possible to have someone use your meter to pay their power bills and in the process possibly also steal units from you especially if you live in a flat. How can this be rectified and whose problem is this? KLPC or Landlord?